Norfolk Blogger

Another day, another Lib Dem leaflet (plus others)

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:50:00 +0000

I think, if my counting is correct, that this is the 11th Lib Dem leaflet I have received. The score, Lib Dem 11 (2 Freepost) , Tory 10 (2 Freepost) , Lab 4 (2 Freepost), UKIP 3 (2 Freepost) , Holden 1 (Freepost), Murray 1 (Freepost), Libertarian 1 (Freepost) , NOTA 1 (Freepost) , Green 1 (Freepost), BNP 1 (Freepost).

Note: One of the labour leaflets was given to me by a work colleague. There is no evidence yet of the "local" Labour leaflet being delivered in a Taverham or Drayton version.

I have also been sent a copy of the Crome Ward version of Labour's leaflet (the Mile Cross version was published by me last week). It speaks volume that Labour are still delivering this leaflet nearly two weeks after the Mile Cross version went out.

Put out the flags, phone up your friends, hold a street party, raise your glass to the Green campaign !

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 10:55:00 +0000

Less than one week until the by-election in Norwich North and we have only just received our first leaflet from the Green Party. In a seat where Green bloggers were suggesting the Green Party was set to make a stunning breakthrough, local people have been astonished by the invisibility of the Green Party who have very much taken the view that campaigning in about 30% of the constituency whilst ignoring the other 70% was somehow going to enable a breakthrough.

So yesterday (I only found it today in the pile of junk mail we receive on a daily basis) we received our first Green Party leaflet, a Freepost (therefore not delivered by the Greens themselves).

So here it is for your delictation. For me it's a little too wordy with too many "look at me" photos which don't support the articles they are with.

Anecdotal evidence from Norwich North which may be important or may be not

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:38:00 +0000

All evidence of general voting patterns based on speaking to a small number of people really do not hold water, so what I am about to state should be taken with a decent pinch of salt.

Speaking to a group of work colleagues today, I commented that my face is making an appearance on one of the leaflets coming through their doors at the moment. Being someone who keeps politics out of the workplace as much as possible, they enquired "Which party ?" When I explained it was the Lib Dems I was met with a very positive reaction from them with many responding that they will be voting Lib Dem on Thursday for the first time.

Similarly, I have been told that the dissatisfaction within Norwich North Labour ranks has reached critical levels with some Labour people local to Norwich refusing to have anything to do with the campaign at all.

Is there a market for the Libertarian Party

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:58:00 +0000

One of the many new parties challenging in the Norwich North by-election are the Libertarian Party, and they have been in Norwich North pushing their message on the doorsteps of the constituency for the last few days, spending much time in Taverham and Drayton today. The question from my point of view is whether there is actually a market for their message.

The Libertarian Party are all about freedoms, and I can't argue with that. However they differ from the liberal view on freedoms in that they believe in a very much reduced role for government. Now that sounds like an enticing prospect, but their views go much further than simply reducing spending by 5% and axing some QUANGOs and government offices. They believe in deeper spending cuts and effectively reducing the role of the welfare state back to something unrecognisable to all of us.

The question is though whether in these hard times, with more and more unemployed and according to recent surveys, upwards of 40% of people worried about whether they will keep their jobs, people are less open to the Libertarian Party's ideas or whether the mountain of debt this country now had might focus minds more on the fact that harsh spending cuts might be forced on us anyway and, perhaps the Libertarian Party might claim to be the only ones honest enough to make clear that deep cuts are necessary.

Certainly the share the Libertarians get will be small, but I think it will be interesting to see whether their radical ideas do have a market.

Note : I have asked the Libertarian Party if they wish to post a short article to this blog explaining what they want to offer the people of Norwich North. They have indicated that they may do this if they have time. So if I have misrepresented them in any way, they have the opportunity to put me right.

Vote for your top ten blogs

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:57:00 +0000

It's that time of year again, when Total Politics asks you to vote for your Top 10 favourite blogs. The votes will be compiled and included in the forthcoming book, the Total Politics Guide to Blogging 2009-10, which will be published in September. This year the poll is being promoted/sponsored by LabourList and LibDemVoice as well as Iain Dale's blog.

The rules are simple.

1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and ranks them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite).
2. Your votes must be ranked from 1 to 10. Any votes which do not have rankings will not be counted.
3. You MUST include ten blogs. If you include fewer than ten your vote will not count.
4. Email your vote to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com
5. Only vote once.
6. Only blogs based in the UK, run by UK residents or based on UK politics are eligible.
7. Anonymous votes left in the comments will not count. You must give a name

8. All votes must be received by midnight on 31 July 2009. Any votes received after that date will not count.

Ten years for planning mass murder ?

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:55:00 +0000

Am I the only person who thinks that giving someone just ten years for planning mass murder through an act of terrorism is an extremely soft sentence ?

Lib Dem Freepost Letter and Leaflet

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:50:00 +0000

This is the Freepost letter and leaflet I received this week.

New Tory Leaflet

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:47:00 +0000

I said I'd post the new Tory leaflet I received as part of the bumper Freepost pack of leaflets a couple of days ago, so here it is.

I have not copied the fold out inside (which spreads to an A3 size) as it is too big and shiny to get a decent picture of.

Freepost Leaflet heaven !

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:31:00 +0000

Here are the latest leaflets I received in Norwich North. They are from the Libertarian Party, NOTA, Bill Holden (Independent), the Conservative and April Pond (Lib Dem).

The Tory leaflet is actually A3 (when folded out) so I copied it as best I could not including the fold out middle. I also have another Lib Dem A3 leaflet but it wont fit in my scanner.

So the leaflet score is, Tory 10, Lib Dem 10, Labour 4, UKIP 3, Murray 1, Holden 1, Libertarian 1, NOTA 1. And I have still not received anything from the BNP or the Greens, not even a Freepost.

P.S. I will post the Tory an Lib Dem leaflets here tomorrow. I have not copied the Murray leaflet. Firstly, he seems to slag my blog off on a daily basis on his blog (remember though, he is the "honest man"), and secondly, its too big (shiny A3) and is elsewhere on the internet.

Eco Town Con

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:27:00 +0000

The quiet Norfolk village of Rackheath is to be turned in to a town (or eco-town as the government insist on calling it). It wouldn't be so bad if the town was actually going to be an eco town. However, the standard of eco friendliness required for building the houses is a lower standard than those standards expect of all new homes by 2016, and by 2016 none of the new houses will be built. So in effect the government has dumped 4000 new homes on prime farmland which will not be built to a higher standard than any other house in Norfolk or the UK.

Labour like to talk up the environmental credentials, but in reality it all a con. Roll on the General Election.

No2ID Norwich North Hustings

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:22:00 +0000

I thought it only right to publicise the hustings debate event 'What A Flipping Liberty!' being run bu the No2ID group in Norwich tomorrow evening, particularly given the dreadful attendance and subsequent cancellation of the previous meetings held this week.

Venue: The Forum, Curve Room, Millennium Plain, Norwich
Date: Friday 17th July 2009
Time: 7.00pm for 7.30pm start until 9.30pm
Entry: Free (donations welcome)

I can't make it (last day of the school year and I am attending the staff do), but would urge anyone who wants to find out more about the candidates to attend.

Radio Five Live - Iain Dale and Myself

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:19:00 +0000

I was on Radio Five Live a couple of days ago talking with Iain Dale and host Anita Anand about the Norwich North by-election.

I am grateful to www.by-elections.co.uk for putting the clip on their website.

You can listen to it HERE.

NOTA (none of the above) on the campaign trail in Norwich North

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:24:00 +0000

I had an interesting little chat this afternoon with the rather pleasant duo from NOTA (None Of The Above) who were out leafleting in Norwich North today.

NOTA are something of a rarity in today's political system. They are a small group of people who are prepared to spend a lot of their money in order to publicise and gain support for a principle. That principle is that people ought to vote, rather than not turn out, and that they should be given the option to put vote for "None Of The Above".

I am, of course, a Lib Dem voter, but I have to applaud their courage and their willingness to go out on to the streets and spend their cash in support of a principle. I would urge people to vote on the issues and remember that somebody has to be elected in 8 days time and that choosing a hardworking candidate who really does have the credentials to stand up for their area will serve Norwich North well. I believe April Pond is the person to do this. But if there are people who feel that they don't want to vote for any party at all, they could, perhaps, do worse than to consider the message that NOTA are publicising.

Second hustings meeting cancelled in Norwich North

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:21:00 +0000

For the second night running all the candidates gathered (except the Tory this time who only seems to bother if the press will be there) for a hustings meeting and for the second night running it has been cancelled due to lack of interest.

It says something about the excitement this election is generating that nobody seems to want to attend hustings meetings.

From my perspective this bodes ill for Labour as it suggests a general dislike of politics and that hits governing parties most in elections.

2nd Labour Freepost in Norwich North

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:52:00 +0000

Labour's second Freepost leaflet is doing the rounds. This is their 4th leaflet in total, but only two of those have actually been delivered by hand (with only one going out in Taverham).

This leaflet is, quite astonishingly, only A5 in size. Have Labour got that little to say that they are now shrinking the szie of their leaflet ?

Which party candidate wasn't going to go to the hustings tonight ?

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:46:00 +0000

I have it on good authority that the Tory candidate in Norwich North was not going to go to the hustings held in Norwich tonight. Then, when it was known that Reuters and The Mail on Sunday were going to be there, suddenly the Tories were less busy than they thought and did attend.

The funny thing was only three people turned up for the hustings so the three members of the public were interviews by the press.

Independent Bill Holden Leaflet (in high quality)

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:03:00 +0000

The Independent candidate Bill Holden put out a leaflet last week in Norwich North. Unfortunatly the copy of the leaflet I got was not that good and the version I put on this website was not readable. Having searched his site I thought it only fair to display a higher quality version of his leaflet so people can actually read it.

New record in Norwich North

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:54:00 +0000

I saw what must be a new record for posters in one garden today. If my camera hadn't died on my Blackberry I would have taken a photo (and will at some point if I remember my camera). But in a reasonably standard council house garden in Mile Cross, Labour have erected six poster. Yes, six on one garden.

I guess it allows them to say they have 6 posters up !

Radio Five Live tomorrow - Me versus Iain Dale

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:46:00 +0000

Tomorrow I am on Radio Five Live's Drive show, live from Norwich, giving an opposite view of the Norwich North by-election from Iain Dale who will also be on, from a link in London.

It is scheduled to be on at 6.10pm and I would love to say "It promises to be lively".

Labour MPs preparing the ground for a "putch" after the Norwich North by-election

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:27:00 +0000

The news today that female Labour MPs are complaining about the "laddish" culture in Number 10 Downing Street should be seen as preparing the way for the Labour Party to kick Gordon Brown out after the Norwich North by-election.

On the ground here in Norwich, it is clear Labour are having problems getting literature out, getting posters up and getting local activists to want to help after the way Gordon Brown's henchmen kicked Ian Gibson out of the parliamentary Labour Party.

Further evidence of the lack of enthusiasm for Gordon Brown can be seen from the lack of Labour MPs visiting Norwich, and why would they want to come when they know Labour may well end up in 3rd place (I have been told that one online betting company have now opened a book on Labour coming third) and many Labour MPs want Gordon Brown out anyway.

So expect more stories over the coming days from Labour MPs, upset ex minsters and various insiders who will start providing the ammunition for a challenge to Gordon Brown after 23rd July.

How to waste money by the bucket load

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:14:00 +0000

Craig Murray, in another of his "the whole world is against me" statements, is apparently having 80,000 DVDs made for his election address.

He states that the reason why the Post Office had refused was, in part, because nobody had ever issued a DVD as their election address before. He refers to paper and ink as a 14th century thing and seems to think that the DVD is the way forward. Perhaps I should point him to a few campaign realities.

1) The six second rule - This rule states that on average, you have six seconds from the typical front door to the nearest bin. You have, therefore, six second in order to get part of your message across.

2) DVDs have been used before - Brent East saw Labour using a DVD and video combination whilst Iain Dale distributed tens of thousands of DVDs in North Norfolk at the last general election. The Lib Dems too used them in Harborough. Guess what ? They didn't work and in each case the party that used them lost.

The reality is that most people do not have the time to sit down and watch a DVD, but more than this, they don't want to be tricked in to wasting their time to watch a DVD by a politician.

Perhaps he will prove us all wrong, but in my own experience of peoples reactions in North Norfolk to Iain Dale's DVD, I suspect not.

P.S. I should add, I spoke to Iain Dale about his DVDs after the election and he stated that he felt they did not work.

How to get your roads repaired - Have a parliamentary by-election

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 08:42:00 +0000

Withing hours of the by-election being called in Norwich North, something strange started happening in Norwich North. All over the constituency County Council vans and lorries started appearing with high visibility vested men carrying spades, driving various types of digger, rollers and other contractors vehicles, and suddenly long waited for road repairs started happening.

In Taverham the road is up, in Drayton action is being taken to reduce speeds, in Hellesdon pathways are being redone (again) and in Mile Cross all the holes in the road that have been there for months have been filled in.

Now I expect that it would take weeks, if not months, to do all this scheduled work, but it does seem odd that all over the constituency the Tory run County Council are doing the things that should have been done a long time ago.

It certainly stops the opposition from running petitions and doing leaflets about the road problems.

I know, I'm being cynical, but I've had other people ask me, with my political knowledge, if there is any link between the by-election and the sudden flood of roadworks being done.

Two Tory leaflets (one posted) and one Lib Dem

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:59:00 +0000

If I get the chance I will post up the leaflets I received today. The Tories, who seemed keen to slag of April Pond and the Lib Dems for delivering a magazine style leaflet responded with an almost exact copy today and I also got a freepost leaflet from them.

The Lib Dems sent me a hand written style leaflet aimed at my postal vote. I This wasn't their freepost. This put the leaflet count (for me as a postal voter) as 8 Lib Dem, 8 Tory (including one freepost), 3 Labour (inc 1 freepost), UKIP 2 (inc 1 Freepost), 2 indies, and that is it.

Iain Dale boosts Lib Dem hopes in Norwich North

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:58:00 +0000

Lib Dems in Norwich North were given a welcome boost today after hearing that former North Norfolk Tory candidate and political blogger Iain Dale was back campaigning in Norfolk after his humiliating defeat in North Norfolk in 2005.

Iain said "I hope to bring to Norwich North everything that I brought to North Norfolk." Lib Dem commentator and former North Norfolk Councillor Nich Starling said "Iain contacted me to say he was in my area of Norwich North canvassing this morning. Last time Iain campaigned in the area I live in he managed to increased the number of Lib Dem vote by several thousand so I am hopeful he will be able to repeat again".

(Note - Iain and the Tory team were canvassing in Taverham today - I was going to meet up with Iain to say hello but family commitments come first. I am sure Iain will see the joke, especially after his anti Lib Dem rant in his EDP column today, which further shows how Tory biased the EDP has become that they should allow this sort of thing during an election campaign).

Unreliable Tory data in Norwich North ?

nichstarling@btinternet.com (Norfolk Blogger) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:35:00 +0000

A Lib Dem poster team out yesterday in Norwich North were surprised to see a lady with a bundle of Tory leaflets under her arm walking up the driveway of the house they were putting the poster up in ask them what they were doing.

"Putting up a Lib Dem poster", they replied

"But I have her down as a Tory pledge", said the Tory

"Well one of us is wrong", replied the Lib Dem team, adding "The owner of the house is a Lib Dem member and deliverer and asked for the sign."

"Well one of us is wrong" replied the Tory lady, and she retreated quickly.